CHAPTER 1
Amos: one of the most important of the Minor Prophets. He doesn’t have the fame of Jonah, but Amos
makes his own mark. He was perhaps the
first of the prophets. Well, the first
of the prophets to get his own book of prophecy, that is. He lived in the first half of the 8th
century BC, which puts him before the others, even Isaiah. Thus Amos set the template for the latter
ones to follow.
Interestingly, even though he was from Judah, he did most of
his preaching in Israel. I guess he felt
they were worse off there. He also has
an interesting profession: he breeds sheep.
He’s a commoner – thus setting a key part of the prophetic template,
that you don’t have to be some high and mighty priest to be called on by
God.
One last key thing about Amos before diving in: he also
promotes justice and ethics. Performing
sacrifices aren’t enough for Amos. In fact, just avoiding idols isn’t
enough. You have to uphold all of God’s
words – including the parts that tell you to treat others well. A traditional view of the prophets is that
they matter because they place personal ethics and morality at the forefront of
the Hebrew religion. Well, if that’s
true, then Amos is one of the most important theologians ever because he’s the
first one to preach that so strongly.
That said, when you get into Chapter 1 itself, there is very
little in what I just described. No, the
Book of Amos gets off to a slow start.
This is just a series of statements denouncing foreign lands. Damascus, Gaza, Tyre, Edom, and Ammon all are
told off, none in much detail. The
longest bit is against Damascus, four verses.
I wonder if this really is how Amos began his days as a
prophet. You start off by denouncing the
outsiders to develop an audience, and then – WHAM – they you move into your
main material. Maybe not. There is no reason to think these verses are
arranged in chronological order, after all.
But then again – maybe. Who
knows?
CHAPTER 2
Oh, Amos isn’t quite done denouncing others. He has a few words to curse Moab with. But then he starts hitting closer to home.
First he attacks the land of his birth, Judah. He doesn’t really say too much about them;
just that they spurned the instruction of the Lord. But that’s enough for the Lord to decide
he’ll destroy Jerusalem. That must have
caused some murmurings in his audience.
But all that is just preface for Amos’s main event: Israel
itself. He spends 11 verses denouncing
them – longer than any 3 of the others combined. Yes, part of his problem with Israel is the
same problem he had with Judah – not following God – but that’s not all. That’s not even the main problem. It certainly isn’t the most memorable problem
discussed.
If Amos’s prophecy can be summed up in one word, it’s this:
justice. He feels the Israelites treat
their brethren in a deeply unjust manner.
He declares that the Lord will curse them, “Because they hand over just
for silver, and the poor for a pair of sandals.
They trample the heads of the destitute into the dust of the earth, and
force the lowly out of the way.”
That’s the core of it.
They treat people deplorably, especially those on bottom of society that
most need the help. Saying that they sell “the poor for a pair of sandals” is
an especially memorable line. They just
toss people away for shoes! It’s a land
where the haves run roughshod over the have-nots for their own
self-interest. Amos is another vote
against the Ryan budget.
CHAPTER 3
This chapter is called “First Summons” and gets into the
real heart of Amos. There is no more
focusing on particular places – now it’s time for the message. And it’s a message of anger. Amos reports on God’s feelings toward Israel:
“You alone I have known among all the families of the earth; therefore I will
punish you for all you iniquities.” This
is the flip side of being a chosen people.
Sure, you have a privileged place before God – but that puts that much
more pressure on you.
So God is now planning to destroy them unless they shape
up. Any problems that befall them will
be because God wants it that way. After
all, “Does disaster befall a city unless the Lord has caused it.” Their sins are both idolatry – “I will punish
the altars of Bethel” - and treating
each other poorly – “They do not know how to do what is right.”
CHAPTER 4
“Hear this you cows of Bashan.” That’s how Chapter 4 begins. I love that line – “you cows of Bashan.” I don’t know where Bashan is, but it sounds
so wonderfully insulting.
And Amos drops into his typical concern, as he decries: “Who
oppress the destitute, and abuse the needy, who say to your husbands, `Bring us
a drink!’” OK, so there is a gender
dynamic at work here. He’s going after
the Real Housewives of Bashan, and he apparently thinks they are a bunch of
cows. But aside from a gender dynamic,
there is a class dynamic that will be much more central to Amos’s overall
message. He’s sticking up for the
destitute and needy – those on bottom of society. We’ll see plenty more of this.
Due to their poor treatment of those on bottom of society,
they’ll get theirs. Amos says, “Truly days are coming upon you when they shall
drag you away with ropes.” To clarify, he later says, “Prepare to meet your
God, O Israel.” He doesn’t mean that in
a nice, heavenly reunion sort of way. He means prepare to meet your maker, you
insolent dumb bastards.
There is a lot of anger here. Well, there is a lot of anger in all the
prophets, but it’s a particular kind of anger here. Amos wants people to be treated with more
equality. We’re all the Children of
Israel so we all deserve some respect and equitable treatment.
CHAPTER 5
Here it is – the heart of Amos’s prophecy. Aside from being the longest chapter in the
book, it’s also got many of the most memorable lines and ideas.
Let’s not bury the lead – this is the chapter Martin Luther
King Jr. quoted repeatedly. Amos has
always been about justice. He wants
people to treat each other fairly, properly, and respectfully. That’s the main concern throughout this
book. And never does Amos state his
desire for justice more eloquently here, in verse 24: “Rather let justice surge
like waters and righteousness like an unfailing stream.” King used that line in his “I Have a Dream”
speech during the March on Washington.
He also quoted it in his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.” There, he noted people called him
militant. He embraced the term, noting
that Christ was a militant for love and Amos militant for justice.
That line is the capper.
It comes near the end of the chapter.
Earlier, he flipped around.
Instead of promoting justice, he denounced those who deny justice. This is what he really goes on about,
actually: “Woe to those who turn justice into wormwood and cast righteousness
to the ground. They hate those who
reprove at the gate and abhor those who speak with integrity. Therefore, because you tax the destitute and
exact from them levies of grain, though you have built houses of hewn stone,
you shall not live in them.”
Amos is the workingman’s prophet. He sees people working hard and getting
jobbed over by the powers than be. He
sees justice perverted. Instead of
providing actual justice to people, it’s been turned into a way for those on
top of society to keep all the power and wealth for himself. He’s a religious Eugene V. Debs (a man who
once declared that the legal nets have been so adjusted as to capture the
minnow, while letting the whales escape).
Amos takes on these people head on, saying, “Yes, I know how
many are your crimes, how grievous your sins; oppressing the just, accepting
bribes, turning away the needy at the gate. (Therefore at this time the wise
are struck dumb for it is an evil time).”
Again, the reference to bribery indicates that true justice has been
denied as people use their power to pervert actual justice from occurring.
Amos has some simple advice for people: “Seek good and not
evil, that you may live.” It’s a very
simple statement indeed, but that shouldn’t cause anyone to overlook its
importance. Amos backs this up shortly
after, saying: “Hate evil and love good, and let justice prevail at every
gate.” That’s a nice one-sentence
summation of Amos’s message. I guess one
reason this appeals so much to me is you don’t have to be especially religious
to believe in much of Amos’s message.
It’s a theology heavily based on social ethics – treating each other
well.
There is also plenty of traditional theology. This isn’t Ecclesiastes where the Bible tells
you how to live even if there is no God.
The Lord is very present for Amos, but for him God is the friend of the
little guy. Amos’s God backs up his
vision of justice – so it’s that much more important we stay away from
idolatry.
But because people aren’t doing that, God will have his
vengeance upon them. The middle part of
this chapter shows what’ll happen if they don’t. The day of the Lord is coming! That might sound nice, but the day of Lord
isn’t a day of puppies and kittens. It’s
a day of judgment – an apocalypse. Amos
says, “It will be darkness, not light!
As if someone fled from a lion and a bear met him; or as if on entering
the house he rested his hand against the wall, and a snake bit it.” Yikes! If this prophecy thing doesn’t work
out, Amos can always go to Hollywood and right screenplays to horror movies.
For Amos, it’s all about righteousness and justice, not
simply following the rituals of Leviticus.
Amos says, “I hate, I despite your feasts, I take no pleasure in your
solemnities. Even though you bring me
your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them.” That’s some rather violent language. All this talk of hate makes him sound like
some Old Testament punk rocker. He and
Joe Strummer should go bowling together or something. But Amos’s theology is about something deeper
than just burning some lamb chops. It’s
avoiding all other gods and treating people properly. So let justice surge forth!
Stay free, Amos. Stay
free.
CHAPTER 6
After that, the rest of the book is something of an
anti-climax. He denounces the
complacent, and it’s clear his targets are the rich. He denounces, “Those who lie on beds of ivory
and lounge upon their conches; eating lambs taken from the flock and calves
from the stall, who improvise to music of the harp composing on musical
instruments like David, who drink wine from bowls and anoint themselves with
the best oils.” The idle rich. Those who have all of lives advantages and
seek to use their power to help themselves exclusively – those are the people
who set off Amos. He really is an Old
Testament Eugene V. Debs.
It’s because of these insolent, prideful bastards that
Israel will be carried off.
CHAPTER 7
God gives Amos a series of visions. All the visions are of the destruction of
Israel. They also harkens back to the
stories of the Torah. One vision is of
locusts, like a plague against Egypt.
Another vision is a rain of fire, like Sodom and Gomorrah.
There is an awkwardly placed story here as well. Apparently the top priest of Israel is sick
of hearing Amos’s denouncing the power structure. He wants Amos forced out and sent back to his
home in Judah. Let him make his money
prophesizing there.
Amos says, no – I’m no prophet. I’m, “a herdsmen and a dresser of
sycamores.” However, “the Lord took me
from following the flock and the Lord said to me, `Go prophecy to the people of
Israel.’” So when he says he’s not a
prophet, he means he doesn’t earn his keep doing this. It’s not his occupation on his tax form. No, it’s not a job – it’s a calling. In the most literal sense, he was called on
to do this.
This also helps explain his message. Amos was just a workingman, and knew that the
average bloke wasn’t being treated right.
(Oddly enough, he knew it was the case in the land to the north, not the
land he lived in. Interesting). The official prophets? They are part of the power structure. They are part of the problem. They have power, and as the old saying goes –
power corrupts. No wonder God called on
a dresser of sycamores to send his message then.
In fact, Amos takes direct aim at the top prophet, saying
that when the day of the Lord comes, your wife will become a prostitute and
your kids will die by the sword. That’s
what happens to the families of those who pervert justice.
CHAPTER 8
There is another vision about how God will destroy Israel
for perverting justice. It’s not a bad
chapter, but it’s nothing we haven’t read before. God will punish them for trampling the needy
and destroying the poor and selling the poor for a pair of sandals.
Let’s note the big difference in focus between Amos and many
priests in the Bible. Most priests are
focused on priestly matters. Priests are
the guys who wrote Leviticus, for instance, which is entirely about the roles
of priests in society. The priests tend
to be more navel-gazing, focusing on their role in society, and forgetting
about society on its own. Amos serves as
a memorable rebuttal to this navel gazing approach.
CHAPTER 9
This might be Amos at his angriest. After foretelling the coming of the Lord for
several chapters, he really gets into what that will mean: death. “Those who are left I will slay with the
sword, not one shall get away, no survivors shall escape. Though they dig down to Sheol, even from
there my hand shall take them.” That’s
quite the image. You can run to hell to
escape from God, but it won’t do any good.
He’ll come and nail you there anyway.
Amos does note he won’t totally destroy the House of Jacob,
just the sinners. But it sure sounds
bleak for everyone.
There is a brief epilogue, which my Bible’s footnotes say
was likely placed by an editor, to smooth over the message of Amos with other
prophets. It says that eventually God
will relent and rise up the people of David again. While the pre-epilogue ended on a positive
note (not everyone will die!) this is a fully note of optimism. Not only will some survive, but so will the
nation as a whole – eventually.
CONCLUDING THOUGHTS
Wow! This was a
memorable book or prophecy. This is a
personal favorite. This is one of the
books that are easier for an atheist to relate to because the fundamental
message is we should treat people properly.
You don’t have to believe in God to believe in that. It’s a message of working well with others,
and not letting those with money and power abuse their power over the rest of
us. As I said above, Amos is a
prophetical version of Eugene V. Debs or Joe Strummer.
That said, he is also genuinely religious. His message is one centered on God, but in
his vision God is concerned with the individuals. There is ample precedent for that approach
previously in the Bible, but few – if anyone – in the Bible emphasizes these
characteristics as much as he does. It’s
nice to see a dresser of sycamores make it into the Bible. There are already plenty enough priests
making their message felt.
Click here for the next prophet, Obadiah.
Click here for the next prophet, Obadiah.
No comments:
Post a Comment